Motion analyzing and recording apparatus



June 14, 1938. c. s. JANES 2,120,703

MOTION ANALYZING AND RECORDING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 26, 1935 4Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

Cid/atom 5. c/anes Filed Feb. 26, 1935 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

June 14, 1938.

c. S. JANES MOTION ANALYZING AND RECORDING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 26, 19354 Sheets-Sheet s INVENTOR.

(1mm 6. chines TTORNEY.

C. S. JANES June 14, 1938.

MOTION ANALYZING AND RECORDING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 26,1935 FLYWHEEL J optical and electrical systems and the operatingPatented June 14, 1938 Q UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MOTION ANALYZINGAND RECORDING APPARATUS Clinton S. Janos, Elmira, N. Y., assignor toEclipse Machine Company, Elmira, N. Y., a corporatipn of New YorkApplication February 26, 1935, Serial No. 8,357

8 Claims. (01. 234-60) This invention relates to motion analyzing andextraneous devices and greatly enlarging the cordi apparatus and more pt ularly to a components of the record for the sake of clarity;

precision instrument for furnishing a convenient Fig. 4 is an enlargeddetail showing a form reco d e t e o uous 01 by minute increof disc bywhich a continuous record of movements of the motion of a device to beanalyzed or ment may be obtained; 5 of a plurality of devices to besimultaneously Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional detail showing a y einstrument is also p a y arthe method of mounting the removable drumranged to furnish'a simultaneous record of suithead and the couplingbetween the drum shaft ably minute increments of time. and its drivingshaft; and

It is an object of the present invention to pro- Fig. 6 is a samplerecord sheet showing the, 10 vide a novel instrument of the abovecharacter record partially completed, to an enlarged scale. which iseflicient and reliable in operation and Referring first to Fig. 1 of thedrawings, there simple and economical in construction. is illustrated aframe or base indicated general- It is a further object to provide suchan inly at I on which is rigidly mounted a light-tight l5 strument whichrecords the time, amount and lens box 2. A 1ight-tight record drum box 3is direction of motion of the device or devices to be detachably mountedon the side of the lens box a y 2 and is provided with openings 4registering with i a further object to p vi e h n inopenings 5 in theside of the lens box 2, a movstrument which is particularly suitable forpreable slide 6 being provided in the drum box for else micrometricanalyses of rapid motion and closing the openin s 4 prior to the removalf 20 rev sa s Of motionl the. drum box from the lens box.

It is another object to provide su h aninstrll- A record drum! isslidably and rotatably jourment which is readily adaptable to furnish arecnamed in th drum box 3 as by means of a shaft; 0rd of convenientscale for the particular phe- 8 freely j um li d therein, Means-areprovided nomena to be studied. for rotating the drum in the form of amotor 25 If! s a further Object to Provide Such an 9 mounted on the baseI and connected through .str ment whi h pr directly r record suitablegearing H to a splined shaft I2 having a Of t q ioi to be analyzedWithout introdllctelescoping fit in an internally splined screw i ns anysi mfio error e l s or fluotuashaft l3. Shaft 13 is detachably coupledto the 30 ion shaft 8 in any suitable way, a preferred form of,

It is a further object to provide such an instrucoupling [4 beingillustrated in Fig. 5 in the ment of which the record may be useddirectly for form of a spnned connection a with a removpltime-displacement f Without the able locking pin Mb in the screw shaftengaging necessity of any correction actors. groove I4 i th drum shaft.

It is a fu er bj to D e S a Means independent of power from the motorstrument in which the t eC0 y E 9 for traversing the drum I is providedin the ment is simple n r i n. and x r y form of aspring 15 (Figs. 1 and2) hearing at one Rccura end against a fixed abutment l6 and at theother Further ob ects and advantages will be apend against a fl fixed tothe screw Shaft 0 parent from h following descripiwn l3 and therebytending to move the drum 1 to 40 connectmn wlth the accompanymg drawmgsthe left. Such traversing movement of the drum which illustrate .apreferred form of the invenis normally prevented by latch, '8 bearing ggggigg View partly broken away against the flange i1, and when such latchis 5 showing the instrument as applied to analyze y g g the traversmfg gg i rg w simultaneously the motion of a starting motor e yione or Lsprnfipresse e 1 and a flywheel of an internalv combustion enmounted nthe a utmen and engag g n gine during the starting operation; thethreads of the shaft l3. Since these threads Fig: 2 a Semi diagrammaticView Showing the are formed as buttress threads as shown, it will beunderstood that during rotation of the shaft mechanism f the recordingdrum; I3 while the latch I8 prevents traversal thereof,

Fig, 3 i a, diagrammatic view in perspective the detents l9 merely slideover the threads, but illustrating the principles of operation of thewhen the latch 18 is released the detentsl9 act optical systems and thecharacter of the record as a stationary nut throu h which the shaftproduced thereby but omitting the prisms and screws itself. Smce thedrum shaft 8 is rigidly 55 coupled to the screw shaft, the drum 1 isrotated and traversed therewith.

, The drum is arranged to carry a light-sensi tive cylinder 2l' (Fig. 3)on which the records of movements of the devices to be analyzed arephotographically impressed. The record cylinder 2| may be mounted on thedrum 1 in any suitable manner but it is preferred to make thecylindrical portionof the drum of transparent material such as glass,celluloid or the like and place therein a suitable sheet of sensitizedphotographic paper backed up by preferably opaque means 20 (Fig. 5) forexpanding it against the interior of the drum.

In order to permit the mounting and removal of the record cylinder fromthe drum, the head 4 la (Fig. 5) of the drum is made removable and isfixed to the shaft by suitable means such as the key lb and wedge ring'lc with inclined pin and slot connection Id. r

vAs illustrated in Fig. 1, three separate optical systems are used formaking simultaneously three records-of movement on the record drum. As

there illustrated, one system records movements of the armature shaft 22of starting motor '23, i

a second system recordsmovements of the engine flywheel '24 asmultiplied by means of a pinion 25 meshing with the flywheel gear 26 andpreferably having the same number of teeth as the starter pinion 21. Thethird or timing system, which is preferably located intermediate thefirst and second systems, records the movement of a timing disc 28 whichis driven at a predetermined constant speed through suitable gearingfrom a synchronous alternating current motor 29. The recording systemfor the starting motor shaft comprises an opaque diaphragm in the formof a disc 3| rigidly keyed on the armature shaft and having a series'of' small openings 32 (Figs. 1 and 3) in the form of a ring near itsperiphery. A beam of light from alight source 33 is directed throughsaid openings by suitable means such as a condensing lens 34 (Fig.

2) and a prism 35, the arrangement being preferably such as illustratedin Fig. 3 in which the beam is condensed until it is but slightly widerthan the radial width of an opening 32. The configuration of the beam 30at this pointdepends on the shape of the incandescent element of thesource of light, an image of which is approx- I imately focused on thedisc 3|.

proximately radial to the axis of the disc 3| The triangular beam oflight 30' passed by an opening 32 of the disc is thus converted afterpassing through the slot 31 into a ribbon 30" which diverges from thesecondary focal point of the condensing lens 34, which focal point is asabove intimated, adjacent the disc 3i. It will be understood that thedisc 3| and slot diaphragm' 36 are preferably arranged in closeproximity, although if the light beam is, as illustrated, only slightlyconvergent, these elements may e separated a substantial distan ewithout impairing the sharpness of the image formed upon the recordcylinder.

The diverging ribbon of light 30" is deflected into parallelism with theoriginal beam 30 by suitable means such as a prism 38 (Fig. 2) (inholder 46,-Fig. 1)., and the divergency of this ribbon is controlled bya suitable condensing lens 39 (in holder 41, Fig. 1) which may bearranged to cause parallelism or slight convergency thereofas'illustrated at 30a. The light beam 33a is directed into the lens box2 by suitable means such as a prism 4l (in holder 48, Fig. 1) and asuitable projection lens 40 is mounted in the lens box in position toconverge the beam 30a onto the record cylinder 2| in the form of a lineof light 42 (Fig, 3). v I It will be noted that the line 42 is in effectan image of the slot 31 as illuminated by the beam of light from thelight source, so that the thickness of the line 42 is controlled by thewidth of the slot 31 and the extent of the line 42 is determined by theside edges of the opening 32 in the disc 3|. As here illustrated, theopenings 32 are triangular in shape and arranged so that when the baseof a triangle 32 is in alignment with the slot 31, the line of light 42is at its maximum length, and rotation of the disc 3| will cause theside edges of the opening 32 to cut,

down the length of the line 42 until the apex of the triangle passes outof line with the slot 31, whereupon the light is completely interrupteduntil the base i the next triangle 32 comes opposite the slot 31. Theshape of the openings 32 is preferably unsymmetrical with respect toradii of the discin order that the images thereof as scanned through theslot 31 may show distinctively the direction. of movement of the discwith respect to said slot. The triangular form of openings hereillustrated is well suited for this purpose as will be noted by anexamination of Figs. 3 and 6 where'reversals of motion of the armaturedisc are shown at 43 and 44. If

it be desired to obtain an absolutely continuous record of movementwithout any periods of darkness on the record, other forms of openingmay be used such as slightly inclined narrow parallelograms asillustrated in Fig. 4.

In order to prevent extraneous light from entering the lens box 2,.aholder 45 is provided for the slot diaphragm 33, and the prism 33, lens33 and prism 4| are mounted in holders 4G, 41 and 48 respectively whichare connected by lighttight telescoping ,tubing 49 and'5l, and the prismholder 48 is connected to the lens 'box 2 bytubing 32 which telescopeswithin a suitable .holder 53 in the wall of said box. The prism and lenssystem is preferably supported adjacent the disc 3| by a suitablebracket'arrangement 53 supported from the lens box, and the projectionlens 40 is adjustably mounted in suitable guides 34 within the lensboxin order to provide a conveniently adjustable optical system.

Since the edges of the beam or ribbon of light 30a between the secondcondensing lens 33 and the projection lens-40 are substantiallyparallel, the length of the tubes 5| and 52 may be varied through widelimits without affecting the optical system. Vertical adjustment of theoptical system supported by the adjustable bracket is also permitted byrotation of the tube 5| around the axis of the holder 53 and swingingrotation of the slot element 36 in its holder 45 to maintain the slothorizontal.

a A disc 55 similar to disc 3| is rigidly keyed ona shaft 53 driven bypinion 25 from the flywheel gear 26,'and the 'motion of the flywheeldisc 55 is recorded on the record cylinder 2| within the drum I by meansof an optical system identical in character with that provided for thearmature disc 3|.

The optical systemfor the timing disc 28 is generally similar to theoptical system for the armature and flywheel discs, but the light source51 therefor, is mounted as shown directly on the top of the lens box 2,and since it is therefore unnecessary to provide for adjustabilitybetween the components of the optical system, some simpliflcationthereof is possible. As shown in Fig. l, the light source 51 is simplymounted at the top of. a tube 58 in which is interposed a holder 59 forcondensing lens 6| (Fig. 2). The lower end of the tube 58 carries aholder 52 for a. pri 63 (Fig. 2), and a second prism holder 64mounted-on the bottom of the box 2 and carries a prism 65 for directingthe beam of light onto the record cylinder 2II The prismholder M is alsoarranged to carry a slot holder 58 in position to scan the beam of lightdirected by the prism 63 through the openings in the disc 28. Aprojection lens 81 is adjustably mounted on suitable guides-in the box 2.for projecting the image of the slot upon the drum as previouslydescribed.

The motor 29 for the timing device is energized from mains connected tothe public alternating current power system. Since the public powersystems are accurately synchronized from a master control station, thefrequency thereof is substantially invariable, and the synchronous motor28 rotating in step therewith causes the timing disc 28 to'uniformlyrecord equal increments of time on the record cylinder.

A suitable electrical system for the apparatus is provided for theconvenient control of the elements thereof. As illustrated in Fig. 2,this system comprises a circuit from the alternating current mains tothe driving motor 9 for the drum 1 including leads 68 and 69 and manualswitch I I. There is also provided a circuit from the alter natingcurrent mains to the synchronous motor 29 including leads 12 and Handmanual switch H. The switch 14 is also preferably arranged as shown tosimultaneously control the direct cur rent from battery through leads18, T5 and 11 for exciting the rotor of the synchronous motor 28.

A solenoid I8 is provided for withdrawing the latch I8 to institutetraversal of the drum 1. This solenoid is energized from battery 15through leads 19, 8| and 82 under the control of manual switch 83. Thestarting motor 23 is actuated from a separate cranking battery or motorgenerator set 84 through leads 85, 86 and 81 under the control of amanual switch 88 or, if preferred, by means of a relay similarlycontrolled by a manual switch. The light sources are energizedpreferably by a separate battery or step-down transformer 89 throughleads 9| and 92 under the control of manual switch 98 Itljwill beunderstood that the motor 9 for driving the drum 1 may also be asynchronous motor if so desired, and in such case' since the drum 1 willthen be driven at a predetermined constant speed, a certain distance onthe surface of the record cylinder will always correspond to isconstructed with an internal diameter of 7.958

- inches, the circumference of the record cylinder rotated at 600revolutions per minute, one millisecond corresponds to inch on saidrecord. However, where the highest accuracy is desired without thenecessity of correcting for paper shrinkage or other errors, the use ofa separate timing device as above described is preferable.

It will be understood that the lines of light 42 as projected on therecord cylinder are arranged to coincide with an axial line of saidcylinder in order that absolute synchronism of the records shall besecured. For this purpose, the final pro-. jection lenses of the opticalsystems are preferably made vertically adjustable to a slight degree inorder that the lines of light projected thereby may be lined up inparallelism with the axis of the drum.

In the operation of this device, the drum box 3 is first taken into adark room, the light-tight head 94 removed, the head la of the drum. 1're-.

moved and a sheet of light sensitive paper such as ordinary photographicbromide paper inserted in the drum so as to completely cover theinternal surface thereof, suitable means such as the sheet of elasticopaque material being used to maintain the paper in intimate contactwith the surface of the drum and to prevent the light which comesthrough the paper from diffusing within the drum so as to fog the paper.The head la of the drum is then replaced, and the cover 84 of the drumbox put on and fastened by suitable means such as clamps 96. The drumbox is then brought out and attached to the lens box if, the synchronousmotor for the timing record is started, the shaft 8 of the drum iscoupled to the screw shaft l3, and the screw shaft and drum are shiftedto the right compressing the spring it until the detent it falls andlocks the screw shaft in starting position.

The light sources are energized by closure of switch 93. The armatureand flywheel discs 3i and 55 are preferably set so that the base of atriangular opening comes opposite the scanning slot in order to trace aband on the record, which iscaused to narrow down when the respectivedisc begins to move. The driving motor 8 is thereupon energized by theclosure of switch H causing the drum. to be rotated, the slide 6 of thedrum box is drawn out, the detent i8 is tripped by closure of switch 83in order to start traversal of the drum, and immediately thereafter thestarting operation is instituted by the closure of the starting switch88.

Since the timing disc is being rotated at a constant speed, when thelight sources are energized and the slide 5 withdrawn, impressions aremade on the record cylinder by the light traversing the timing disccorresponding to exactly equal increments of time and forming a ringaround the rotating cylinder. At the same time, the light beams comingthrough the stationary armature and flywheel discs form a solid ring atthe starting end of each record. When the latch I8 is withdrawn, thetraversal of the drum 1 under the influence of the spring I 5 causes thelight impressions to form spirals on the record cylinder having thepitch of the screw threads on shaft l3. I

When the starting switch 88 is closed, the energization of thestartingmotor 23 causes rotation of the armature disc 8| which thereupon causesimpressions to be made on the record cylinder correspondingto incrementsof rotational! the starting motor, these inrpressions forming a spiralparallel to the timing record. When the {is 25 inches, and if the drumis arranged to be starter pinion 21 engages and drives the flywheel gear26; the consequent rotation of the flywheel dis'c 55 causes similarimpressions to be made on the record cylinder corresponding toincrements of rotation of the flywheel.

When ,the cylinder reaches the end of its longitudinal travel, the slide6 is pushed in to seal the drum box, all switches are opened, the drumbox is thereupon removed to the dark room, the record cylinder taken outand the latent images thereon developed'and fixed in the ordinary way.Fig. 6 shows such a record, the spots thereof being greatly enlarged forthe sake of clarity.

I The records so produced are used for plotting time-rotation curves bylaying the record flat on a suitable surface, establishing a base line98 (Fig. 6) perpendicular to the direction. of traversal of the record,and erecting a perpendicular 99 thereto at any selected zero point suchas the starting point of the armature'shaft. Suitable increments ofrotation are then selected as a basis for readings, and thecorresponding time increments are determined by erecting a perpendicularfrom the base line to the corresponding time record. Thus if thearmature and flywheel discs have 200 openings therein, each openingcorresponds to 1/200 of a revolution which may be taken as a suitableincrement, or a multiple thereof 'may be used. If an increment of 1/200of a revolution is used, a perpendicular is erected from the rotationtime curves by plotting the ta gents thereof at suitable intervals.

ince the use of these records entails the counting of a large number ofsimilar marks, it has been found convenient to differentiate anumber ofthe marks to divide them into groups. This is readily done by slightlychanging the shape of selected openings in the discs. Thus every 10thopening in the armature and flywheel discs may be formed as a righttrapezoid instead of a triangle as illustrated at 9'! in Fig. 3.

It has been found convenient to form the timing disc with 200 openingsand to rotate the same at 1500 R. P. M. so that five openings correspondto one milli-second. In this case, it is preferred to form distinctivelyevery 10th opening and every 50th opening in order to distinguish twoand ten milli-second intervals respectively.

In order to assist in establishing a base line, it has been foundconvenient to extend one opening of the timing disc laterally beyond theother openings. R. P. M. and the record cylinder at 600 R. P. M., thedisc makes two and one-half rotations for each rotation of the cylinderso that the images of the extended opening occur every 144 degrees onthe cylinder. If the cylinder rotates two or more revolutions before thetraversal thereof is instituted, there will consequently, appear fiveimages of the elongated slot spaced '72 degrees apart, the bases ofwhich images appear on the edge of the ring which defines the beginningof the time record asillustrated at 100 on Figs. 3 and 6, and when thetime record is laid out flat these projections form an excellent guidefor establishing the desired base line. It will be understood that whena number of revolutions of the record cylinder take place before thetraversal It will be readily under-' When the timing disc rotates at1500 starts, the images'of the timing disc openings are superimposeduntil the photosensitive material of the record is over-exposed, causingspreading of the images in such manner as to render it somewhat diflcult to ascertain just where the lower points of the images terminate.Since the images thereof'are in registry only every other revolution ofthe cylinder, and since the base of the extended opening is flat,' it isclear that such over-exposure of the images of the extended opening isreduced by half, and it is much easier' to establish a definite baseline from the bases of the sources of illumination, the number and formof the openings in the discs, the components of the optical systems, andthe speeds of rotation of the drum and timing disc may all be variedthrough wide limits in order to adapt the device to various uses andsecure the desired results, Without departing from the spirit of theinvention as defined in the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for recording motion of a device including an opaquediaphragm connected to move with said deviceand having a series ofopenings therein, means for training a beam of light on said diaphragmin position to traverse said openings, a second opaque diaphragmadjacent the first diaphragm having a slot therein in position to betraversed by said beam of light and arranged substantially normal to thepath of movement of said openings, a rotary. record drum, and means forprojecting an image of said slot as illuminated by said light beam ontosaid drum parallel to the axis thereof.

2. In a motion recording apparatus in combination with a device themotion of which is to be analyzed, a light source, a light-sensitiverecord cylinder, means for converging a narrow beam of light from saidsource onto said cylinder, means for uniformly rotating and traversingsaid record cylinder and means whereby motion of the device to beanalyzed periodically moves the edge of the light beam laterally on thecylinder, obscures the beam, and then repeats the operation forpredetermined increments of rotation of the device.

3. Apparatus for recording motion of a device including a light source,a light-sensitive record cylinder, means for converging a ribbon oflight from the source onto said cylinder, means for uniformly rotatingand traversing said cylinder, and means responsive to uniform incrementsof motion of said device for moving the edge of said ribbon laterally onthe cylinder in a direction dependent on the direction of motion of thedevice, and causing occultation thereof in synchronized periodicity withsaid increments of motion.

4. A device for recording the amount and direction of motion of anelement including photographic means for recording a series of -markscorresponding to equal increments of motion of said element, said meansincluding means whereby reversal of motion of the element causes adistinctive alteration in the character of the marks.

means for photographically impressing thereon a series of imagescorresponding to equal increments of motion of said element, the spacingof said images on said record showing the speed of motion of theelement, and means whereby the shape of said images shows the directionof motion of the element.

6. In a recording apparatus a record drum, means for rotating said drumatuniform speed, independent means for axially traversing said drum,releasable means under the control of the operator for preventing suchtraversal, and means operative upon the release of said preventing meansfor governing the rate of traversal in accordance with the rotation ofthe drum.

7. In a recording apparatus a record drum, means for rotating said drumat uniform speed, means including a spring for urging the drum in anaxial direction, means including a releasable latch for holding the drumagainst axial movement, a shaft having a buttress thread connectedaxially to the drum for rotation and longitudinal movement in unisontherewith, and a springpressed detent arranged to engage said buttressthread and thereby control the longitudinal movement of the shaft anddrum after release of said latch.

8. Apparatus for recording rotary motion of a device including a discconnected to be rotated by said device and having a circular series ofopenings near its periphery, a diaphragm having a slot arranged radiallyto said disc adjacent said openings, at light-sensitive cylinder, meansfor projecting an image of said slot as illuminated by a beam of lightpassing through an opening of said disc onto said cylinder, means forrotating said cylinder, independent means for traversing said cylinderin timed relation to its rotation, and means responsive to rotation ofthe cylinder for controlling the traversing means without substantiallyaffecting said rotation.

CLINTON S. J ANE'S.

